A Coat of Many Lies
On August 22, 2022, the Class of 2026 at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities Medical School stood and recited the words below before putting on their white coats. I could not find the complete text anywhere, so I copied this from the brochure they handed out for the ceremony.
“With gratitude, we the students of the University of Minnesota Twin Cities Medical School Class of 2026, stand here today among our friends, families, peers, mentors, and communities who have supported us in reaching this milestone. Our institution is located on Dakota land. Today, many Indigenous people from throughout the state, including Dakota and Ojibwe (ooh-jib-way), call the Twin Cities home; we also recognize this acknowledgment is not enough.
We commit to uprooting the legacy and perpetuation of structural violence deeply embedded within the healthcare system. We recognize the inequities built by past and present traumas rooted in white supremacy, colonialism, the gender binary, ableism, and all forms of oppression. As we enter this profession with opportunity for growth, we commit to promoting a culture of anti-racism, listening, and amplifying voices for positive change. We pledge to honor all Indigenous ways of healing that have been historically marginalized by Western medicine. Knowing that health is intimately connected to our environment, we commit to healing our planet and communities.
We vow to embrace our role as community members and strive to embody cultural humility. We promise to continue restoring trust in the medical system and fulfilling our responsibility as educators and advocates. We commit to collaborating with social, political, and additional systems to advance health equity. We will learn from the scientific innovations made before us and pledge to advance and share this knowledge with peers and neighbors. We recognize the importance of being in community with and advocating for those we serve.
We promise to see the humanity in each patient we serve, empathize with their lived experiences, and be respectful of their unique identities. We will embrace deep and meaningful connections with patients, and strive to approach every encounter with humility and compassion. We will be authentic and present in our interactions with patients in an accessible manner to empower their autonomy. We affirm that patients are the experts of their own bodies and will partner with them to facilitate holistic wellbeing.
We will be lifelong learners, increasing our competence in the art and science of medicine. We recognize our limits and will seek help to bridge those gaps through interprofessional collaboration. We will prioritize care for the mind, body, and soul of not only our patients, but of our colleagues and selves. With this devotion, we will champion our personal wellness and bring the best versions of ourselves to our profession. We will support one another as we grow as physicians and people. We are honored to accept these white coats. In light of their legacy as a symbol of power, prestige, and dominance, we strive to reclaim their identity as a symbol of responsibility, humility, and loving kindness.”
These words were written by a committee of students, under faculty supervision, and recited by the entire class.
If you can define something by its opposite, then this pledge represents the exact, precise opposite of authentic medicine. It is a laundry-list rant by stunted children, shaking their fists at problems they either imagine or cannot comprehend, not guided but encouraged and manipulated by a narcissistic and nasty clutch of faculty bathing in their own moral superiority for producing an army of drones to carry out rote instructions.
This ghastly recitation is an overt embrace of racism by those claiming to fight it, a rejection of reason by those seeking to learn science, and a dismissal of some by declaring love for all. The entire screed, bloody in its implications, is the opposite of what it claims to be and a flat-out attack on the Individual and Reason. Until such time as they renounce this horrible statement, they are failures not only as would-be physicians, but as human beings, and should be regarded only with contempt.
Those weren’t white coats they donned. They were surrender flags with sleeves.
Jeez, you guys have gone full on right wing trolls around here. Sad. Used to be more funny. Have been subscribing for 20+ years.
Nothing has changed in 20+ years. We don’t censor our writers. And if you don’t find that medical school speech hilarious then I don’t know what to say.
I just re-read all of the comments, and I don’t see anything that’s particularly right-wing, just a bunch of comments that could be well-described as “down to earth.”
Under a different heading this week, Dr. Newman made some points that were a bit to the left of some people’s thinking here, and nobody said anything mean to her about it.
In general, people here give their opinions and they are respected, ie: the posters are not characterized as “sad,” or called disparaging names, such as “trolls.”
What is your opinion, other than that the people here are not as good as you?
Or, as my favorite love him / hate him talk radio host Bob Grant used to say, “What say you?”
Lance you’re still the most eviscerating poster on here – when the hell are you going to write some pieces? (Presuming you don’t already)
What is “right-wing” about pointing out how absurd and racist this pledge is?
Translation: We can’t fix medicine, so lets just toss the young into the pit and hope it appeases our bean counting overlords. Step one, convince the sacrifices that they are doing special work and it’s an honor to be tossed in the pit.
Now go uproot and collaborate, and meditate on your sins; you power, prestige, and dominance-hungry first year medical students.
The renewal of my Michigan license requires taking the following course
December 9 – Implicit Bias: Clinical and Ethical Considerations A “CE You! Plus” Afternoon Webinar! Take a new look at Implicit biases and how bias can contribute to unconscious attitudes and stereotypes that can manifest in the workplace, school setting, and in the healthcare system. Join the dialogue about where Implicit Bias comes from and how it can affect clinical treatment. This class can be used to fulfill the NEW Implicit Bias requirement for MICHIGAN licensees. Earn 3 CE Credits. (Live Webinar)
Great! Now, here’s your lifetime of soul-crushing, spiritually hollow toil. Enjoy!
Medicine has succumbed to the religion of Wokeism. We are in big trouble.
The first phrase is the biggest lie they said – “with gratitude.” It’s impossible to reject their origins, their country, their education, everything they see around them and wrap that in the phrase “gratitude.” They are products of all that was around them. Wanting to improve the world is an eternal hope of the young. Wanting to blow it all up is an intermittent one that has arrived here.
Excellent point.
Simply bizarre is all I can say!!
Charitable assessment: Well-intentioned self-congratulatory BS
Will the students remember this b.s. when they’re working for a clueless healthcare MBA hospital administrator a few years from now, struggling to put enough data into their EMRs and see enough patients an hour to generate enough RVUs to justify their salaries which pay for their oversized houses and multiple SUVs, while they’re praying for an early retirement?
Wow.
I was actually speechless after reading that hogshead of bullshit.
I will say this, though, they (or at least some of them) are learning right at the outset one of the most valuable lessons of Medicine today: Say and agree to whatever crap you need to, then just move ahead as though it never happened.
The experiences of these students as they go through training will be so divergent from whatever the hell someone envisioned here after a deep pull on “their” crack pipe that they will have zero faith in any part of the system by the time their training is completed.
Champions of their own body? Does that mean anorexics should be allowed liposuction? What about the fifth rhinoplasty on a body dysmorphic.?Some to demands to look like a cat?
How about the ones with delusions of parasitism. “Yes, there really are bugs crawling all over you that only you can see. Here, take this hepatotoxic drug six times a day until you stop seeing them or you die from liver failure.”
Ha! I hate those people, Rusty!
Bugs, worms, red-and-blue threads.
On the skin, in the skin, under the skin.
They’re just as crazy as the ones who see God across the room at the salad bar, or have the CIA sending them messages in the words on the sides of delivery trucks.
And They. Just. Won’t. See. It.
What they need is the ol’ Big Fat Haldol Needle, but you can’t do that anymore like you used to be able to.
I’ve tried every different way of dealing with them: Tell they they’re fine and hope they’re pissed off enough not to come back, refer them to Psych, refer them to Derm, give them what they want. None of it really helps.
My favorite one was an SOB who was very smart, though crazy as a MoFo. He figured out that if he came in just before closing, nobody would have the energy to fight with him. And best of all, his worms WENT AWAY COMPLETELY with 2 weeks of penicillin. Of course, they always came back, but, I will admit, every time I saw this guy, I just said, “Worms again, eh?”, wrote PCN 500 QID x14d, and sent him away happy. I’ll probably go to Hell for that.
I believe it’s called “Worm-affirming Care”.
Hey, I LISTEN to my patients, I take them SERIOUSLY, and I BELIEVE them.
You say you got microscopic worms under your skin that only you can see, well then you got microscopic worms under your skin that only you can see.
You say you’re JC Himself, come to save my immortal soul, well then you’re JC Himself, come to save my immortal soul.
You say you’re a time-traveling space alien visiting from another dimension to bring us Humans news of the reign of Zoltar, well then you’re a time-traveling space alien visiting from another dimension to bring us Humans news of the reign of Zoltar.
You wouldn’t happen to know next week’s PowerBall number, would you?
You say you’re a girl trapped in a man’s body, well then you’re a girl trapped in a man’s body.
Hold my beer while I go get my scalpel. I want cash first, though.